


Stay

by Marlex7



Category: Conviction (TV 2016)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Insecurities, Light Angst, Morning After
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-25
Updated: 2016-11-25
Packaged: 2018-09-02 03:16:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8649442
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marlex7/pseuds/Marlex7
Summary: Tess wakes up in Hayes' bed for the first time, not sure if their relationship is where she really wants it to be.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this for the Bite Sized Bits of Fic community on LiveJournal. The prompt was "Conviction, Hayes Morrison/Tess Larson, Sleeping in on a day off," but the story was also very much influenced by Emily Kinney's song "Morning Sex is for Lovers."
> 
> This is my first time writing this pairing. I hope you enjoy. Comments are welcome.

Tess woke to sunlight in her closed eyes, shining red on the inside of her lids. She whined softly and shifted her body to turn her head away from the offending light, realizing several things in rapid succession. 

First, her bedroom’s window opened to a narrow alley and never saw direct sunlight, especially not enough to be shining in her face right now. 

Second, and this was a bit redundant after the first, she not in her own bed, the sheets too soft and the bed itself too large. 

Third, she was not alone in the bed, which became evident when one of her legs bumped into smooth length of calf not her own.

Fourth, she was naked, which was not how she typically slept, even when her apartment’s A/C struggled to keep up with the summer heat.

Finally, she opened her eyes to find a brilliant expanse of dark hair filling her vision.

The pieces fell in place and memories of the previous night flooded her mind. Her and Hayes at a bar. Drinks, starting with cocktails and ending with shots. A cab ride. Hayes’ apartment, her bedroom.

It hadn’t been the first time they’d met after work. It wasn’t even the first time they’d had sex in this very bed.

The flirting had started long before that, initiated by Hayes, probably, Tess suspected, to see what kind of reaction she could get from her younger underling. She doubted Hayes had figured on her reciprocating, but the former first daughter never let anything phase her for long and soon they were at some club with loud music and bright lights and they were dancing and then later they were kissing.

Tess had fallen hard for her boss soon after that first night and it only got worse with each subsequent outing. Hayes was loud and brash and rarely thought before she acted, everything Tess wasn’t, but she also recognized the broken pieces she did her best to hide, soldiering on to help others. She felt a connection growing between them, strengthened by each new aspect of Hayes the woman allowed Tess to see.

Hayes had honestly fascinated Tess since her first day on the job, and when Hayes ended a long day at the office with a thinly veiled innuendo, Tess decided to act instead of think.

Of course, she’d done little else but think in between their increasingly frequent liaisons. She knew what she saw in Hayes, but she no idea idea what Hayes saw in a quiet paralegal who barely kept her head above the emotional waters threatening to swamp her at any moment.

That wasn’t to say she didn’t cherish the moments she did spend with Hayes. It seemed when they were alone together, Hayes lowered her defenses around her in a way she’d never seen at work. Sometimes, usually after more than a few drinks, Hayes would even talk about her childhood in the White House or her well-publicized struggles afterward, her cavalier attitude not entirely hiding the hurt brewing beneath the words.

Still, Tess didn’t dare to get her hopes up that Hayes felt anything for her like she did for her boss. Sure, they’d had sex plenty of times, always at Hayes’ place, but Tess always left as soon as they were done, hailing a cab for the lonely journey back to her apartment. She knew Hayes lived with her brother, who actually owned the place, but she’d never seen him, leading Tess to wonder if Hayes had planned their trysts to coincide with nights he’d be out.

Last night had been different. It had started out the same, at least, with drinks and a bit of dancing, and Tess remembered how Hayes had looked when she laughed, not unkindly, when Tess remarked almost involuntarily at her beauty. The sex that followed was wonderful as always, but when Tess made to leave, Hayes clasped her hand on her wrist, gently tugging her back to the bed, simply saying, “Stay,” in a low voice tinged with wonder, as if she surprised herself by saying the word.

So Tess had stayed and they fell asleep together naked under Hayes’ expensive and extremely comfortable sheets.

Staring now at Hayes unkempt hair as she still slept, Tess wondered if it all had been a dream, despite the evidence to the contrary right in front of her. A sudden dread filled her, a certainty that as soon as Hayes awoke she would regret her comment last night, ending whatever this was they had when Hayes realized that it was simply a fling for drunken fun and late-night sex, not for waking up together to a sunlit morning.

As quietly as she could, Tess slid herself out of the bed, the morning chill raising goosebumps on her naked skin as she looked around for her clothes. If she could just get dressed and out of the apartment before Hayes woke up, maybe they could pretend it never happened. Although a tiny part of her shouted to stay, that maybe this was the start of something new, something more between the two of them, a much larger part silenced the first, stating the obvious fact that Hayes didn’t love her like she loved Hayes.

Tess had just found her pants when she heard Hayes shift in the bed. Feeling like a child caught with her hand in the cookie jar, she turned to see Hayes looking at her. She had that freshly awoken air to her and Tess realized with longing that she was one of a only a select few who’d ever had the opportunity to witness her like this and couldn’t help the desire that welled in her to see it again and again.

Then Hayes’ features shifted and Tess thought she saw a flash of hurt in her eyes, but an instant later it was gone, replaced with something closer to how she looked at work.

“Why?” Hayes asked.

It wasn’t the question Tess had been expecting, although admittedly she didn’t really know what she had been expecting.

Tess found herself stumbling for a response. “I thought…” she started, but didn’t want to admit her fears. Finally, she said, “I figured you’d want me to leave.”

“I asked you to stay,” Hayes said softly, and the hurt had returned.

“I didn’t think you really meant it,” Tess said finally.

“Tess,” Hayes began, sitting up, apparently not caring when the sheet fell away to leave her upper half as naked as Tess was. “I very rarely don’t mean what I say and last night was definitely not one of those times.”

“It’s just that I’ve never stayed before,” Tess said, her mind trying in vain to accept what Hayes was saying even as her heart swelled at the thought.

“I never asked you before,” Hayes answered before pausing to look hard at Tess. 

Normally she would have been uncomfortable with sometime staring at her like that, but as with most other things when it came to Hayes, it was far from an unpleasant experience.

“I think we have some things to talk about,” Hayes said finally, “but for now, will you please come back to bed? We don’t have work today and we can sleep in. Jackson will make us breakfast. You haven’t lived until you’ve tried my brother’s cooking.”

Tess found herself once again unable to respond, so instead she simply nodded and walked around to the far side of the bed. Hayes shifted so she was once again flat on the bed and then pulled down the sheets to welcome Tess back in.

Tess did just that, and Hayes kissed her lightly on the corner of the mouth. Tess closed her eyes for a moment, relishing the sensation.

“Thank you,” Hayes said when the kiss was over.

“For what?” Tess asked, finding Hayes’ hand and taking hold.

“For staying.”


End file.
